雷暴闪电活动特征研究进展

从一般雷暴、灾害性雷暴和台风的闪电活动特征以及雷暴闪电尺度特征四个方面对相关研究进行梳理。一般雷暴通常具有正常极性电荷结构,云/地闪比例在3左右(中纬度地区),地闪中正地闪占比为10%左右,负地闪位置往往更集中于对流区。灾害性雷暴倾向具有活跃的云闪,低比例的地闪,易出现反极性电荷结构,正地闪比例偏高。闪电活动与灾害性天气现象之间存在关联性,部分雹暴过程具有两次闪电活跃阶段。台风中大部分闪电发生在外雨带,眼壁/外雨带闪电爆发很可能预示气旋强度的增强以及路径的改变。由闪电持续时间、通道空间扩展所表征的闪电尺度与雷暴对流强度相关。弱对流雷暴或雷暴的弱对流区域可能由水平扩展、垂直分层的电荷分布形态主导,闪电频次低,闪电空间尺度大;强对流雷暴或雷暴的强对流区域可能由交错分布的小电荷区主导,闪电频次高,闪电尺度小。      

Comparison of lightning activity and radar-retrieved microphysical properties in EULINOX storms

A combined analysis of microphysical thunderstorm properties derived by C-band polarimetric Doppler radar measurements and lightning observations from two ground-based systems are presented. Three types of storms, a multicell, a supercell, and a squall line, that were observed during the European Lightning Nitrogen Oxides project (EULINOX) are investigated. Correlations are sought between the mass of rain, graupel, hail, and snow derived form radar observations at different height levels and the electrical activity, represented either by cloud-to-ground or intracloud flashes. These relationships are explained by connecting the radar-derived properties with the non-inductive charging process. For the multicell and the supercell storm, the lightning activity can be linearly correlated to both the hydrometeor total mass and class specific mass in the upper part of the storm. It is shown that the fractions of graupel and hail above the −20 °C-level in these storms positively correlate with the intracloud flash activity in the supercell, and negatively for the cloud-to-ground lightning frequency in the multicell. No such relation can be established for the squall line, indicating that the convective organization plays a crucial role in the lightning development. The analysis of the masses in the different storms shows that lightning activity cannot be parameterized by total mass alone, other parameters have to be identified. The results provide important information for all lightning studies that rely on bulk properties of thunderstorms, e.g., the parameterization of lightning in mesoscale models or the nowcasting of lightning by radar.     

Climatology of lightning activity in South China and its relationships to precipitation and convective available potential energy

This study examined lightning activity and its relationship to precipitation and convective available potential energy(CAPE) in South China during 2001–12, based on data from the Guangdong Lightning Location System, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, and the ERA-Interim dataset. Two areas of high lightning density are identified: one over the Pearl River Delta, and the other to the north of Leizhou Peninsula. Large peak-current cloud-to-ground(LPCCG) lightning(75 kA) shows weaker land–offshore contrasts than total CG lightning, in which negative cloud-to-ground(NCG) lightning occurs more prominently than positive cloud-to-ground(PCG) lightning on land. While the frequency of total CG lightning shows a main peak in June and a second peak in August, the LPCCG lightning over land shows only a single peak in June.The ratio of positive LPCCG to total lightning is significantly greater during February–April than during other times of the year. Diurnally, CG lightning over land shows only one peak in the afternoon, whereas CG lightning offshore shows morning and afternoon peaks. The rain yield per flash is on the order of 10~7–10~8kg per flash across the analysis region, and its spatial distribution is opposite to that of lightning density. Our data show that lightning activity over land is more sensitive than that over offshore waters to CAPE. The relationships between lightning activity and both precipitation and CAPE are associated with convection activity in the analysis region.     

Waveshapes of continuing currents and properties of M-components in natural positive cloud-to-ground lightning

This work analyses the waveshapes of continuing currents and parameters of M-components in positive cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes through high-speed GPS synchronized videos. The dataset is composed of only long continuing currents (with duration longer than 40 ms) and was selected from more than 800 flashes recorded in São José dos Campos (45.864°W, 23.215°S) and Uruguaiana (29.806°W, 57.005°S) in Southeast and South of Brazil, respectively, during 2003 to 2007 summers. The videos are compared with data obtained by the Brazilian Lightning Location System (BrasilDAT) in order to determine the polarity of each flash and select only positive cases. There are only two studies of waveshapes of continuing currents in the literature. One is based on direct current measurements of triggered lightning, in which four different types of waveshapes were observed; and the other is based on measurements of luminosity variations in high-speed videos of CG negative lightning, in which besides the four types above mentioned two additional types were observed. The present work is an extension of the latter, using the same method but now applied to obtain the waveshapes of positive CG lightning. As far as the authors know, this is the first report on M-components in positive continuing currents. We also have used the luminosity-versus-time graphs to observe their occurrence and measure some parameters (duration, elapsed time and time between two successive M-components), whose statistics are presented and compared in detail to the data for negative flashes. We have plotted a histogram of the M-components elapsed time over the total duration of the continuing current for positive flashes, which presented an exponential decay (correlation coefficient: 0.83), similar to what has been observed for negative flashes.     

云南西双版纳地区闪电活动特征

应用2017—2018年云南省VLF/LF三维闪电定位数据和1987—2006年云南省人工雷暴日观测数据,运用数理统计、空间插值等方法分析"雷都"西双版纳闪电活动的时空分布特征,运用网格法将闪电定位数据转化为网格雷电活动日,研究人工观测雷暴日与闪电定位监测资料的相关性。结果表明:西双版纳地区雷电活动从3月就开始逐渐增多,峰值出现在7—8月。就闪电频次而言,云闪少于地闪、正闪少于负闪,正地闪明显多于云南省其他地区。11月闪电强度较大,但频次较少;7月闪电频次较多,但强度较小。云闪多发生在8 km以下,平均高度为4.914 km。地闪和云闪密度分布一致,北部高而南部和东西部低;云闪的强度明显高于地闪,但在空间分布上均是北部弱而南部和东西部强。人工观测雷暴日与网格雷电活动日的逐月分布特征较一致。研究还表明:西双版纳在云南省范围内是人工观测雷暴日最多区域,也是网格雷电活动日最多区域。     

OBSERVATION AND MODEL ANALYSES OF POSITIVE CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING IN MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS*

The analyses of spatial and temporal characteristics of positive cloud-to-ground(CG) lightning for four mesoscale convective systems and two severe local convective systems in 1989 and 1990 show that positive CG flash rate usually has two peak values.The major peak occurs during the developing stage of the storm and most of the positive CG flashes originate at the lower part of the storm.The minor occurs during the dissipative stage of the storm and most of the positive CG flashes originate at the upper part of the storm,especially in the region of the wind divergence in the storm anvil.The positive CG flash rate is almost an order of magnitude larger in the developing stage than in the dissipative stage.The appearing time of the peak of negative CG flash rate is in accordance with that of the valley of positive CG flash rate.The higher the intensity of the radar echo,the higher the positive CG flash rate.Most of the positive CG flashes occur when the weak echo area is larger,and mostly originate in the region where the radar echo intensity is about 10dBz and in the back region of the moving storms.The spatial distribution of the positive CG flashes is much more dispersive than that of the negative.The mesoscale analysis reveals a bipolar lightning pattern.The mean bipole-length reaches its minimum during the mature stage of the storm and reaches the maximum during the developing stage of the storm.The vertical distribution of the charge density is calculated by a one-dimensional charging model.Then,we discuss the producing condition of the positive CG lightning and forming cause of charge structure mentioned above.     

OBSERVATION AND MODEL ANALYSES OF POSITIVE CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING IN MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS

The analyses of spatial and temporal characteristics of positive cloud-to-ground(CG)lightning for four mesoscaleconvective systems and two severe local convective systems in 1989 and 1990 show that positive CG flash rate usuallyhas two peak values.The major peak occurs during the developing stage of the storm and most of the positive CGflashes originate at the lower part of the storm.The minor occurs during the dissipative stage of the storm and most ofthe positive CG flashes originate at the upper part of the storm,especially in the region of the wind divergence in thestorm anvil.The positive CG flash rate is almost an order of magnitude larger in the developing stage than in thedissipative stage.The appearing time of the peak of negative CG flash rate is in accordance with that of the valley of pos-itive CG flash rate.The higher the intensity of the radar echo,the higher the positive CG flash rate.Most of the positive CG flashes oc-cur when the weak echo area is larger,and mostly originate in the region where the radar echo intensity is about 10dBzand in the back region of the moving storms.The spatial distribution of the positive CG flashes is much more dispersivethan that of the negative.The mesoscale analysis reveals a bipolar lightning pattern.The mean bipole--length reaches itsminimum during the mature stage of the storm and reaches the maximum during the developing stage of the storm.The vertical distribution of the charge density is calculated by a one-dimensional charging model.Then,we discussthe producing condition of the positive CG lightning and forming cause of charge structure mentioned above.     

山东地区闪电的特征分析

利用1998～2000年山东地区雷电探测网获取的云对地闪电资料，从闪电的日变化、闪电的强度、闪电密度、极性等方面研究了山东地区的雷电分布特征。结果表明，云地闪电中负闪占绝大多数；正闪的平均强度大于负闪，在闪电强度较小和较大时发生的正闪占总正闪电总数的比例相应地高于负闪；闪电的发生也有明显的日变化，总体呈双峰双谷形式；闪电的空间分布与地形有关，也与下垫面的性质有关。对部分城市市区闪电密度的统计分析表明，济宁、莱芜、滨州、泰安、济南等位于鲁中地区的城市更应加强人工防雷工作。     

Analysis of thunderstorm and lightning activity associated with sprites observed during the EuroSprite campaigns: Two case studies

During the summers of 2003 to 2006 sprites were observed over thunderstorms in France by cameras on mountain tops in Southern France. The observations were part of a larger coordinated effort, the EuroSprite campaigns, with data collected simultaneously from other sources including the French radar network for precipitation structure, Meteosat with images of cloud top temperature and the Météorage network for detection of cloud-to-ground (CG) flash activity. In this paper two storms are analyzed, each producing 27 sprite events. Both storms were identified as Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS) with a trailing stratiform configuration (ST) and reaching a maximum cloud area of ~ 120,000 km². Most of the sprites were produced while the stratiform area was clearly developed and during periods of substantial increase of rainfall in regions with radar reflectivity between 30 and 40 dBZ. The sprite-producing periods followed a maximum in the CG lightning activity and were characterized by a low CG flash rate with a high proportion of + CG flashes, typically around 50%. All sprites were associated with + CGs except one which was observed after a − CG as detected by the Météorage network. This − CG was estimated to have − 800 C km charge moment change. The peak current of sprite-producing + CG (SP + CG) flashes was twice the average value of + CGs and close to 60 kA with little variation between the periods of sprite activity. The SP + CG flashes were further characterized by short time intervals before a subsequent CG flash (median value < 0.5 s) and with clusters of several CG flashes which suggest that SP + CG flashes often are part of multi-CG flash processes. One case of a lightning process associated with a sprite consisted of 7 CG flashes.     

Anomalous lightning activity over the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo due to urban effects

A significant enhancement in the number of negative cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning and a decrease in the percentage of positive CG flashes are observed over the city of São Paulo, similar to observations in other large urban areas. Strong evidence indicates that this anomalous behavior results from several mechanisms related to the urban effect. In this paper, we investigated the importance of the air pollution using CG lightning data provided by the Brazilian lightning detection network (BrasilDAT) for a 6-year period (1999–2004). Due to the large variations in the CG lightning activity in response to different meteorological processes, it is not an easy task to infer the contribution of air pollution to the enhancement in the lightning activity. In order to overcome such difficulty, two approaches were considered: (1) the weekly variation of the number of days with lightning in comparison to the mean concentration of particulate matter (PM₁₀), as well as other thermodynamical parameters; (2) the variation of the number of CG flashes and the maximum storm flash rate per individual thunderstorm for different levels of pollution. The results of both analyses suggest that: first, the enhancement in the CG lightning activity during the week days over São Paulo metropolitan region is related to the PM₁₀ concentration (pollution); second, the PM₁₀ concentration tends to increase the lifetime of the storms and, in consequence, the number of flashes per storm, and not the flash rate of the thunderstorm; and third, the effect of the pollution in the enhancement of the CG lightning activity is probably less significant compared to the effect of the urban heat island.     

一次中尺度雷暴大风过程的闪电特征分析

2005年6月21日山东北部出现了一次中尺度对流系统,并伴有地面灾害性大风。作者综合闪电定位资料、雷达和卫星资料详细分析了这次中尺度对流系统的闪电活动特征,结果表明,在系统初始发展阶段地闪频数快速增加.成熟阶段地闪频数一直较高,且都在20次/5 min以上,在减弱消散阶段,正地闪比例超过负地闪。负地闪多发生在对流降水区,而正地闪则对应于稳定的层状云降水区。逐小时地闪次数峰值滞后于云顶最低温度峰值,小于-50℃的冷云覆盖面积峰值滞后于地闪次数峰值。这次地面大风主要是较强下沉气流底部外流造成的,利用WINDEX计算的地面最大风速潜势与观测的阵风值非常接近。地面大风阶段对应着剧烈的闪电活动,地闪频数的跃增略提前于地面强风发生时间,这对灾害性天气过程的监测预警具有一定的参考价值。     

基于闪电数据的雷暴识别、追踪与外推方法

该文提出了一种新的雷暴识别、追踪与外推方法。该方法基于地闪数据,利用密度极大值快速搜索聚类算法实现雷暴的识别,采用Kalman滤波算法实现雷暴的追踪与外推。应用该方法处理了2013年的全国地闪定位数据,同时利用多普勒天气雷达等数据对选取的个例进行评估。结果表明:该方法能有效识别雷暴并对其进行实时追踪,且能有效处理雷暴分裂与合并的情况;算法具有较好的0~60 min的临近外推预报能力,各项性能指标整体与TITAN (Thunderstorm Identification, Tracking, Analysis and Nowcasting) 算法接近,在30 min时效有更好的表现。该方法能够实时监测、预报全国雷暴发生发展状况,对于0~60 min临近预报具有一定参考价值。     

华北一次中尺度对流系统中的闪电活动特征及其与雷暴动力过程的关系研究

利用地面地闪定位资料、多普勒天气雷达和常规气象资料, 分析了一次具有前部对流线和后部大范围层状云降水(LLTS)的典型中尺度对流系统(MCS)的闪电活动演变特征。整个MCS生命史中负地闪占主导地位, 正地闪则表现不活跃。观测得到MCS消散阶段云闪与地闪的比例为2∶1, 地闪主要分布在地面相对位温和对流不稳定能量均达到高值的区域; 负地闪主要密集地分布在大于40 dBZ的回波范围内; 正地闪则稀疏地分布在30～40 dBZ的回波范围内。在低于-40℃的温度区域内地闪分布较多, 而密集的地闪分布在温度梯度大的区域内。结合单多普勒雷达的水平风场反演, 发现地闪集中出现在气流表现为气旋性切变或水平风呈现切变的区域。该区域与MCS的强回波区相对应, 并且地闪易发生在上升气流达到最大并开始出现下沉气流的阶段。     

雷暴云内电荷水平分布形式对闪电放电的影响

为了定量探究雷暴云内电荷水平分布形式对闪电类型和先导传播行为的影响,建立了典型雷暴云电荷结构模型,引入控制电荷水平分布的参数,利用改进的随机放电参数化方案,开展二维高分辨率模拟试验。结果表明:主正电荷区电荷水平分布不均匀且向中心聚集时,产生的闪电类型多为正地闪和正极性云闪,随着电荷水平分布趋于均匀,闪电类型转变为负地闪;主负电荷区电荷水平分布趋于均匀时,闪电类型由负地闪向正极性云闪再向正地闪转变;闪电先导传播特征有较大差异,电荷分布密集不均匀时,先导被束缚在电荷高密度中心,主要在电荷区内发展,当电荷分布单一均匀时,先导能穿出电荷区并水平延伸十几至二十多千米。分析两个电荷区之间的电位分布发现,电荷区电荷水平分布趋于均匀时,位势线向电荷密度中心集中,整个位势阱水平延展,闪电触发点的初始电位值有较大差异,有利于闪电类型和先导传播行为的改变。     

北京一次强飑线过程的闪电辐射源演变特征及其与对流区域和地面热力条件的关系

利用2015年夏季北京闪电综合探测（BLNET）总闪辐射源定位、多普勒天气雷达、地面自动气象站和探空资料等多种协同观测资料,详细分析了2015年8月7日北京一次强飑线过程不同阶段的闪电特征,并探讨了闪电与对流区域和地面热力条件之间的关系。飑线过程整体上以云闪为主,根据雷达回波和闪电频数可以将飑线过程分为发展、增强及减弱三个阶段。发展阶段表现为多个孤立的γ中尺度对流降水单体,随着北京城区降水单体的迅速发展,强回波顶高延伸到-20℃温度层高度,闪电辐射源高度也逐步增加,闪电明显增多,但总闪电频数整体低于80次/min。增强阶段单体合并,闪电频数快速增长,0℃层以上及以下的强回波（＞40 dBZ）体积明显增大,飑线形成后,总闪和地闪均达到峰值,分别约248次/min和18次/min,负地闪占总地闪比例为90%,辐射源主要分布在线状对流降水区内,辐射源数量峰值出现在5～9 km高度层。减弱阶段飑线主体下降到0℃以下并迅速衰减,辐射源分布明显向后部层云降水区倾斜。95%的闪电发生在对流线附近10 km范围内,即对流云区和过渡区。在系统发展和增强阶段,对流云区与层云区辐射源的活跃时段基本一致;系统减弱阶段,对流降水云区辐射源数量迅速减少。在系统的不同发展阶段,闪电活跃区域对应于冷池出流同平原暖湿气流在近地面形成的相当位温强梯度带内。     

基于光学资料的广州塔附近下行地闪特征

利用2009—2014年广州高建筑物雷电观测站的光学观测资料,结合雷声和电磁场变化波形,对广州塔（高度为600 m）西北部60°扇形区域3 km范围内的119次下行地闪分布特征进行统计分析,结果表明:43.7%（52/119）的地闪发生在区域内4个最高的建筑物上;除了直接击中广州塔的20次地闪（16.8%）,距离广州塔附近0~1 km的区域未观测到地闪,观测到的距广州塔最近的地闪离广州塔约1.2 km;距广州塔1~2 km的区域共观测到35次地闪（29.4%）,其中每个高度低于300 m的建筑物被击中的次数不超过1次;距离广州塔2~3 km区域共观测到64次地闪（53.8%）,其中有些高度低于300 m的建筑物被地闪击中1次以上,最多达5次。广州塔对附近区域下行地闪的吸引作用使其附近1 km左右范围内未观测到地闪,且1~3 km范围内随距离增加下行地闪密度（扣除击中其他高度不低于300 m的建筑物的地闪）有逐渐增加趋势,说明高建筑物对下行地闪的吸引作用随着距离的增加而逐渐减弱。     

一次中尺度对流系统的电场演变特征

综合雷达、卫星、电场、闪电定位仪等资料,分析了2009年6月5日经过南京地区的中尺度对流系统(MCS)的地闪、电场演变过程及特征。本次过程中,MCS的发展阶段正地闪占主导地位,成熟阶段负地闪占主要地位,消亡阶段层状云区的正地闪相对较频繁。将该过程电场划分为4个阶段,重点对MCS对流区的电场进行了演变过程和特征分析,并用准正态分布模式模拟了MCS的对流区电场。结果表明,准正态分布模式能够更细微地反映电场变化,模拟得到的电场和实际观测相符。     

Estimation of Lightning-Generated NOx in the Mainland of China Based on Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Location Data

Lightning-generated nitrogen oxides(LNO_x) have a major influence on the atmosphere and global climate change.Therefore, it is of great importance to obtain a more accurate estimation of LNO_x. The aim of this study is to provide a reference for the accurate estimation of the total LNO_x in the mainland of China based on cloud-to-ground lightning(CG)location data from 2014 to 2018. The energy of each CG flash was based on the number of return strokes per CG flash, t...     

通道感应电荷对放电活动特征的影响

为探究闪电放电后电荷重置方案中异极性电荷植入法对雷暴云放电效应的影响,利用已有的三维雷暴云起放电模式,结合2011年8月12日发生在南京地区一次典型的雷暴个例,通过控制倍数改变闪电通道感应电荷量进行大量敏感性试验。模拟结果表明:闪电通道感应电荷量对空间电荷结构分布和云闪通道长度有明显影响。通道感应电荷量增加,即空间异极性电荷堆增多,加大空间电荷结构复杂程度;云闪通道在发展过程中难以穿越与自身极性相同的电荷堆,导致短通道云闪频次增加。通道感应电荷累积总量相同,不同闪电通道感应电荷量下云闪频次与通道电荷平均累积量呈负相关,即通道感应电荷平均累积量增大,云闪频次减少。而地闪频次、类型与通道感应电荷量相关性不明显。     

低纬高原一次飑线过程的地闪演变特征分析

利用雷电定位资料、多普勒雷达资料和FY-2E红外卫星资料,分析了滇西南一次典型飑线过程的地闪变化特征。结果表明,这是一次由切变线云带内的对流单体与台风外围对流单体合并形成的典型飑线过程。在飑线发展初期,负地闪占主导地位,地闪频数在波动中缓慢增加;在飑线成熟阶段,地闪频数较高,负地闪频数达到最大峰值前10～15min,正地闪出现最大峰值;在飑线减弱阶段,地闪频数急速下降,正地闪所占比例急剧增加,当正地闪所占比例超过地闪总数的8%以上时,地闪活动开始呈减弱特征。负地闪主要发生在强对流区(>40dBz),对应着径向速度场上的辐合区,密集的正地闪发生在飑线成熟阶段,对应着辐合区附近>40dBz的强回波区域,稀疏的正地闪发生在强回波外围的云砧或稳定性降水部位。在飑线整个发展阶段,-10℃,-20℃层高度上雷达回波强度的每一次跳跃变化都对应着地闪频数的跳跃发展,且-10℃和-20℃层高度上雷达回波强度总在地闪频数变化之前6～30min。负地闪集中出现在-92～-90℃和-76～-74℃的云区,而正地闪集中发生在-90～-60℃的云区。